The state of Windows 8

Only Microsoft knows how the next version of its Windows operating system will look and what it will be called, but big changes could be ahead for the OS observers refer to as "Windows 8."

FRAMINGHAM, 24 JANUARY 2011 - Only Microsoft (MSFT) knows how the next version of its Windows operating system will look and what it will be called, but big changes could be ahead for the OS observers refer to as "Windows 8."

At this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Microsoft announced that Windows 8 will support system-on-a-chip architectures using ARM processors. Unlike the x86 architecture that today's Windows laptops and desktops work with, ARM-based chips tend to run such low-power devices as tablets and smartphones.

In his CES keynote speech, Microsoft CEO Steve Ball­mer said, "This announcement is really all about enabling a new class of hardware, and new silicon partners for Windows, to bring the widest possible range of form factors to the market."

In other words, Windows won't be just for laptops and desktops anymore.

Actual Facts

Microsoft's ARM announcement represents the firm's only officially released factual detail about Windows 8. Consistent with it, the company named Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments as silicon partners, so Windows devices built upon their three low-power platforms are likely.

At an architectural summit in London last year, Microsoft en­­couraged the idea of virtualizing Windows more heavily, possibly storing apps, data, Windows settings, and parts of the OS itself in the cloud.

Rumors

No rumor about Windows 8 is more precise than a series of leaked slides that supposedly provide a blueprint for Microsoft's next OS. The slides alone don't indicate final features of Windows 8, but they do show where Microsoft is headed, especially since other reports have corroborated them.

One slide, for example, talks about an OS that follows users wherever they go; instead of being tethered to hardware, users may roam between desktops, laptops, and tablets in whatever way is most convenient.

Another slide speaks of a reset button that preserves apps and settings while wiping out viruses and other hindrances. Some industry watchers suggest that storing apps and data in the cloud could make this feature possible.

As for Microsoft's goal of "instant on" computing, blogger Manan Kakkar spotted a Microsoft patent for using a hypervisor-another virtualization method-to split the operating system into a general-purpose OS and a number of appliancelike applications, such as for TVs and tablets. Those uses, Kakkar says, could switch on instantly even if the core OS took 30 seconds to start up.

How will Microsoft achieve these lightweight versions of its operating system? A ru­­mor circulated by Paul Thurrott posits that Windows 8 will introduce a tile-based interface called "Mosh" to serve as an alternative UI for tablets and other low-power touchscreen devices.